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Timespan of MTV
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Begenning of MTV
First BrodcastMTV's pre-history began in 1977, Warner Cable (a division of Warner Communications), and an ancestor of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (WASEC) launched the first two-way interactive cable TV system, QUBE, in Columbus, Ohio. The QUBE system offered many specialized channels. One of these specialized channels was Sight On Sound, a music channel that featured concert footage and music oriented television programs; with the interactive QUBE service, viewers could vote for their favorite songs. -
The Launch of MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981.[1] The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs.[2] -
Video Killed the Radio Star
Video Killed the Radio StarVideo Killed the Radio Star was the first music video to ever appear on MTV. -
Breaking the "color barrier"
About the color barrierDuring MTV's first few years on the air, very few black artists were included in rotation on the channel. Those who were in MTV's rotation included Eddy Grant, Tina Turner and Donna Summer. The very first non-white act played on MTV in the US was UK band The Specials, which featured an integrated line-up of white and black musicians and vocalists. The Specials' video "Rat Race" was played as the 58th video on the station's first day of broadcasting -
Original VJs and Format
MTV's early format was modeled after AOR (album oriented rock) radio. It would become a full top 40 station in 1984. Fresh-faced young men and women were hired to host the network's programming and to introduce videos that were being played. The term VJ (video jockey) was coined, a play on the initialism DJ (disc jockey). Many VJs eventually became celebrities in their own right. The original five MTV VJs in 1981 were Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson and Martha Quinn. -
Live Concerts
Throughout its history, MTV has covered global benefit concert series live. For most of July 13, 1985, MTV showed the Live Aid concerts, held in London and Philadelphia and organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. While the ABC network showed only selected highlights during primetime, MTV broadcast 16 hours of coverage -
Music video series
MTV introduced 120 Minutes in 1986, a show that would feature low-rotation, alternative rock and other "underground" videos for the next 14 years on MTV and three additional years on sister channel MTV2. The program then became known as Subterranean on MTV2. Then on July 31, 2011, 120 Minutes was currently resurrected with Matt Pinfield taking over hosting duties once again and airing monthly on MTV2. -
MTV Europe
MTV EuropeMTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent. Today, the channel only serves a selection of European countries as MTV Networks Europe began to regionalise its network in 1997. -
Rise of the Directors
By the early 1990s, MTV was playing a combination of pop-friendly hard rock acts, chart-topping metal and hard rock acts such as Metallica, Nirvana and Guns N' Roses, pop singers such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, 2 Unlimited and New Kids on the Block, and R&B quartets such as New Edition, Bell Biv Devoe, Tony Toni Tone, and Boyz II Men, while introducing hit rappers Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer. MTV progressively increased its airing of hip hop acts, such as LL Cool J, Naughty By Nature, Onyx and S -
Alternative is mainstream
Nirvana led a sweeping transition into the rise of alternative rock music on MTV in 1991 with their popular video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit". By late 1991 going into 1992, MTV began frequently airing videos from their heavily promoted "Buzz Bin", such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos, PM Dawn, Arrested Development, Björk, and Gin Blossoms. MTV increased rotation of its weekly alternative music program 120 Minutes and added the daily Alternative N -
Videos Durring the Day
Around 1999 through 2001, as MTV aired fewer music videos throughout the day, it regularly aired compilation specials from its then 20-year history to look back on its roots. An all-encompassing special, MTV Uncensored, premiered in 1999 and was later released as a book -
Electronica and Pop
By 1997, MTV focused heavily on introducing electronica acts into the mainstream, adding them to its musical rotation. Some of the more popular musicians of this group were The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Moby, Aphex Twin, Daft Punk, The Crystal Method, and Fatboy Slim. Some other established musicians proceeded to experiment with electronica and be played on MTV, most notably Madonna, U2, David Bowie, Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins. That year MTV also attempted to introduce neo-swing bands -
Total Request Live
MTV LiveAlso by 1997, MTV was criticized heavily for not playing as many music videos as it had in the past. In response, MTV created four shows that centered around music videos: MTV Live, Total Request, Say What?, and 12 Angry Viewers. Also at this time, MTV introduced its new studios in Times Square. A year later, in 1998, MTV merged Total Request and MTV Live into a live daily top ten countdown show, Total Request Live, which would become known as TRL and secure its place as the channel's unofficial -
20th Anniversary
MTV celebrated its 20th anniversary on August 1, 2001, beginning with a 12-hour retrospective called MTV20: Buggles to Bizkit, which featured over 100 classic videos played chronologically, hosted by various VJs in reproductions of MTV's old studios. The day of programming culminated in a 3-hour celebratory live event called MTV20: Live and Almost Legal, which was hosted by Carson Daly and featured numerous guests from MTV's history, including the original VJs from 1981. Various other related MT -
MTV Europe rebranded
On April 1, 2002, the channel re-branded as 'MTV European'. In August 2007, it moved its editorial base from London to Warsaw, Poland, though still beaming its signal from MTV Networks Europe's London headquarters. -
AMTV
Music video programming returned to MTV in March 2009 as AMTV, an early morning block of music videos that originally aired from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. on most weekdays; see AMTV for current schedule).[52] Unlike the FNMTV block that preceded it, AMTV features many full-length music videos, including some older videos that have been out of regular rotation for many years on MTV. It also features music news updates, interviews, and performances.[52] -
Censorship
MTV has edited a number of music videos to remove references to drugs,[60] sex, violence, weapons, racism, homophobia, or advertising.[61] Many music videos aired on the channel were censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel.
In the 1980s, parent-media watchdog groups such as the Parents Music Resource Center criticized MTV over certain music videos that were claimed to have explicit imagery of satanism. MTV has developed a strict policy on refusal to air videos
